ABSTRACT
In its broadest sense, monitoring in pulmonology refers to the assessment of gas exchange between the environment and the blood. ere are two key events that take place in this sequence: (1) transport of gas between the environment and the alveoli, via the branching airway tree, and (2) diusion of gases across the physical barrier separating the alveoli from the pulmonary capillaries. ere are a variety of methods for assessing the eciency and eectiveness of each of these two events, all of which involve specialized equipment to measure the relevant physical variables, as well as specialized procedures to ensure that the measured variables accurately reect the underlying physiological phenomena of interest.
